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NEW: ,77 FICRDS & ]IEBCIURYIs FORSC}tE9lr+. COITPE ROAD IEST; ]IASERATT K}IAfISTII /MPRESSIOVS; IEEP CI.I. GRETILIH X

COMBINED IYITH CAR LIFE, SPORTS CAR GRAPTIIC AI{D WHEEIS AFIELD@ cts: PARISE A super-Volkswogen with broins ond bodge by Edouord Seidler

They numbered it 924, and they call , decided that the fu- 1 1 ,000-12,000 "real" Porsche 91 1s), it a Porsche. You better believe it, lure 924 would be sold world-wide and more than half of that produc- since it's written on it But they could under the , or possibly tion is to be shipped to America. just as well have introduced it as a the , badge only. When Toni The Porsche family has given birth Volkswagen, as an Audi or as a VW- Schmuecker moved into the top to quite a few children over the Porsche Every one of these strategic chair at Wolfsburg, he turned that years. Some, like the prewar Auto- options came up over the past five decision around. The 924 was to be Union Grand Prix cars and the cur- years. From scratch, the 924 project a Porsche, and nothing but a rent 911 range, are of pure royal was launched with the replacement Porsche, since it would sell much blood. Others, such as the historic of the 914 in mind. Volkswagen and better under that badge. Beetle, are sired by Porsche but Porsche then were running a joint So, melne Herren, it will come as a adopted by lesser houses. And then sales organization for sports cars Porsche, with sales starting in Eu- there are the bastards, a cross be- from both houses, and , rope early this year and U.S. availa- tween Porsche's blood and brains Wolfsburg's boss at the time, okayed bility set for late 1976 The U S., by and Volkswagen's wealth. The latest the project as a future VW-Porsche the way, was the main target from of these is the 924. car. When the VW-Porsche company the beginning. Porsche will make Its fathers at Porsche claim to was dismantled, Lotz's successor, 22,000 of the 924s yearly (as against dearly love the 924 They have given

vaRcH rgzo 61 Well-balenced weigha disttibulion is achieyed with lrcn, engine locetion end rcar-moun,ed Eensaxle. Driveshalt tuns ahtough lubulat "backbone" lhat ties lrcnt end rcat into a rigid unit. Frcnt suspension employs MacPhercon sltuts, wiah semi-trciling arms and transverce ,orsion barc used lor lhe lully independen, reat wheels.

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Separaling lhe engine and aransaxle allows morc usable inteilor space and halchback access lo a latget luggage arca than allowed by reaFor mid-engine placemenl.

it as much care and attention as any manufacturing and maintenance ruled out from scratch as being op- of their earlier offspring, but 91 1 fans costs were to be kept at a minimum posed to Porsche's dogma. Porsche won't recognize the 924 as one of Torque was to be emphasized more technicians then remembered the the family. ln all fairness, however, than speed, and fuel economy was a Grand Prix Mercedes-Benz which the 924 must be rated as a sports must. Professor Porsche designed in the car of modern times, better and Maybe such a project was not as early 1930s. The classic f ront stronger than the 914-which now is exciting as the develoPment of a engine/gearbox, propeller shaft and being sold only in the U S.-a smart Porsche Turbo Carrera, but it was by rear-wheel-drive layout has the disad- combination of proven, economical no means less challenging. Untler vantage that the non-driven front and available comPonents and, the circumstances, Porsche engi- wheels carry more weight than the above all, a cheaper way to Protect neers proved once again that active driven rear wheels. The idea, then, one's ego under a Porsche badge. brains could be a good substitute for was to fit the engine in front and the The 924 project was apProached in money and unlimited means TheY gearbox in the rear to achieve. a much the same way as the original filled their shopping basket at the near-perfect weight distribution. Porsche 356 model: Engineers at Volkswagen-Audi store and came Porsche decided to link the two us- Zuffenhausen were to use a max- back with a good set of comPonents: ing a transaxle with a rigid connec- imum of mass-produced Volkswagen engine, gearbox, suspension, brakes, tion between them. The front-mount- and Audi parts along with as much etc. Eventually, they spiced these in- ed engine is connected to the rear- Porsche brainpower as could be Put gredients with an idea of their own: mounted gearbox and differential unit a possi- transaxle system by a central, rigid tube, through z together, to develop the best the ut ble $9000 sports coupe. lt would be A rear- or mid-engine layout would which the driveshaft is carried. The l-E cheaper than the 91 'l and better than have compromised interior space in main advantage of this method of oC F the Datsun 260-2, the Alfetta GT and a car which was to be a comPact construction is the excellent traction o E other contenders in the class The 2 + 2 setup. Front-wheel-drive was of the rear wheels even under dif-

62 IMARCH 1976 ficult road conditions. An added as- Armstrong and a modern pop singer. car in mind all along. And why not? set is that the space between the The power compartment is not musi- Last year, Nissan sold 40,000 units of front and rear axles is completely cal at high rpm, just noisy. The sus- lhe 280-2 a year in the U.S. And the free for the passenger compartment, pension is a little harsh, though most new Porsche is definitely a better while luggage space is also available efficient, with MacPherson struts up car. This, along with the attraction of at the rear of the car. front and rear semi-trailing arms with the Porsche badge, should be worth The result is an impressive com- torsion bars and double-jointed drive- some $1800 more to the U.S. buyer bination of ride and handling I drove shafts. You can have it even harder if The 924 is expected to sell for lhe 924 on some narrow and twisting you get the optional "sports kit" anti- around $9000 when it reaches Ameri- roads in the south of France and roll bars. The rack and pinion steer- can shores next fall as a 1977 model. found it perfectly neutral When ing is faultless at speed, but it could By then, an automatic VW-Audi pushed to its extreme limits, the 924 use assistance for parking maneuvers. transmission will be available. will understeer only slighily, and it There are disc brakes in front only, The 924 is more than 3 in shorter, will automatically return to neutral if which is all right if you drive within 2 in. lower and 3 in. narrower than you lift your right foot. Uncle Sam's speed limits; but mrs- the 911, with more interior space. The engine is the 2-liter, water- creants will be sorry there are drums When well driven, it won't be too far cooled 4-cylinder Audi unit soon to in the rear, which can create prob- from the 91 I in performance, consid- be used in the U.S by American Mo- lems when stopping the 924 quickly ering contemporary driving condi- tors. Porsche increased its power from the 100-mph range tions. When driven on Porsche's output to 125 (DlN) hp by adding the The 924 is a great little car none- comparative road-test track by pro- Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection sys- theless, even though it is not a true fessional drivers, the 924 went tem and increasing the compression Porsche. Handling is superb, around in 110 6 sec, as against 98.0 ratio to 9 3:1. As usual, the U S. ver- comfort is perfect, and interior deco- sec for the Turbo, 102.9 sec for the sion will be considerably weaker ration is simple without ostentation. Carrera, 107. 1 sec for the regular Porsche engineers expect to lose 20 Porsche says the 924 is a 2+2, 91 1 and 1 15.9 sec for the g'l 4. lts hp on the federalized power plant but it really is a 2-seater with "occa- handling showed up well in a slalom I took the original German version sional" seating in the rear Trunk test, where the 924 achieved 5.16 to slightly more than 125 mph on the space, on the other hand, is better sec against 5.07 for the 91 1 and no autoroute between Nimes and Mont- than on the 91 1 . You can fit two nor- better than 5 34 for the 914. Driving pellier after being told there would mal suitcases and a few litile bags in the 924 as fast as it will go, I got be no gendarmes around. The feder- the rear luggage compartment, or slightly more than 21 mpg Under alized version should be capable of fold down the rear back-rest. The normal driving conditions, it should slightly more than 110 mph. hatchback design makes loading a return more than 25 mpg Performance-wise, though, the very simple operation Strangely, this super-Volkswagen main asset of the 924 is its flexibility Overall styling of the 924 is a mat- engineered by Porsche will be manu- in the lower rpm range. lts maximum ter for discussion. I feel it does not factured by Volkswagen at the Neck- torque ot 12'1.5 lbift is reached at have as much personality as the 91 1. arsulm plant. Porsche quality engi- 3500 rpm (the redtine is 6500), and The wide and low swept front end neers are admitted into the plant to the car accelerates beautifully in low will be quite well received, but the check on "their" before gear. cars lt moves from a standing start side view is not as successful. Visibil- Porsche buys them from big brother to 60 mph in 10 4 sec. ity all around is good from within the Traditionally, small shops and com- Don't expect any Porsche music car, but the lateral glass areas could panies would assemble special cars under the hood There is as much have been more generous, as they for the automotive giants, but difference between the 911 engine are on most modern cars. Looking at Porsche and Volkswagen have gone and this 4-cylinder Audi power plant the 924, it is quite obvious that the other way around. Goliath now as jazz buffs will find between Louis Porsche designers had the Datsun Z- works for David.l

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